Arms Dealer: The Thread Where I Attempt To Make A Penny
Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2015 8:43 am
So fifteen years after it was released, I find myself once again completely addicted to and obsessed with Counter-Strike. It fills basically every free moment of my days now, and several non-free moments.
There've been a few tweaks to gameplay since it first came out -- a couple different grenade types, a couple of the guns replaced with other guns, and a couple graphics upgrades, but it's still essentially the exact same game that came out has a Half-Life mod in 1999. Same "Ts" and "CTs" battling it out, three minutes at a time, ten bazillion times in a row. Those kids will never get along.
The one thing that HAS changed, however, is that there is now an entire marketplace, an entire economy, based on buying and selling Counter-Strike guns on the Steam marketplace.
Okay, fine.
But here's the amazing part:
These "guns" are just skins, paintjobs for the guns that are already in the game, and that you already have access to as soon as you install the game. They do not affect the gameplay even a tiny, tiny bit.
Some of these "guns" (and particularly "knives") fetch hundreds of dollars.
For a paintjob for a fake weapon that you already get for free.
This is INCREDIBLE to me. I still can't believe it.
But as the old saying goes, if you can't beat 'em, try to make one U.S. penny by joining them.
So this is the thread where we wipe the slate clean (I've already bought a few of these "guns" for 10-20 cents, just to see what it's like) roll back to zero, and see if we can actually make a real-world profit from this nonsense.
A one cent profit is the goal, and will make this entire escapade a rousing success.
Let's begin.
I purchased a "M4A1S Nitro (Field Tested)" for $2.48. Oh yes, I forgot. Not only are these all just paintjobs for fake, free guns, there are also different levels of "wear" for all of the paintjobs. So "Field Tested" will have more "wear" than, say, "Factory New", but will have less "wear" than "Battle-Scarred". Again, the difference here is that someone MSPaint spray-painted a little extra gray over the Battle-Scarred version. Of course, the less wear, the more REAL-LIFE MONEY THAT PEOPLE ARE SPENDING ON THIS SHIT it is worth. How do the kids say it? "smh", I believe. SMH, INDEED.
At any rate, I immediately put that same "M4A1S Nitro (Field Tested)" back on the market, at a price that would net me $2.49.
Oh, but here's the other thing. This whole thing is a utter and complete racket. Why? Because for every sale, Steam takes 5% of the price, and the Counter-Strike people take 10%. So for every dollar spent on this shit, 15 cents of it is nicked off the top and sent to Gaben and his merry band.
So, whereas I purchased it for $2.48, the seller only got $2.17. And whereas I'm trying to sell it to make $2.49, the actual price the buyer would have to pay is like $2.83.
It seems like a lost cause. BUT, this particular gun has been going UP in value (there's charts for this, since of course this is serious business, and not just Gaben stuffing his fat fucking mouth with your cash).
So we'll see.
We'll see.
I can't believe this exists.
There've been a few tweaks to gameplay since it first came out -- a couple different grenade types, a couple of the guns replaced with other guns, and a couple graphics upgrades, but it's still essentially the exact same game that came out has a Half-Life mod in 1999. Same "Ts" and "CTs" battling it out, three minutes at a time, ten bazillion times in a row. Those kids will never get along.
The one thing that HAS changed, however, is that there is now an entire marketplace, an entire economy, based on buying and selling Counter-Strike guns on the Steam marketplace.
Okay, fine.
But here's the amazing part:
These "guns" are just skins, paintjobs for the guns that are already in the game, and that you already have access to as soon as you install the game. They do not affect the gameplay even a tiny, tiny bit.
Some of these "guns" (and particularly "knives") fetch hundreds of dollars.
For a paintjob for a fake weapon that you already get for free.
This is INCREDIBLE to me. I still can't believe it.
But as the old saying goes, if you can't beat 'em, try to make one U.S. penny by joining them.
So this is the thread where we wipe the slate clean (I've already bought a few of these "guns" for 10-20 cents, just to see what it's like) roll back to zero, and see if we can actually make a real-world profit from this nonsense.
A one cent profit is the goal, and will make this entire escapade a rousing success.
Let's begin.
I purchased a "M4A1S Nitro (Field Tested)" for $2.48. Oh yes, I forgot. Not only are these all just paintjobs for fake, free guns, there are also different levels of "wear" for all of the paintjobs. So "Field Tested" will have more "wear" than, say, "Factory New", but will have less "wear" than "Battle-Scarred". Again, the difference here is that someone MSPaint spray-painted a little extra gray over the Battle-Scarred version. Of course, the less wear, the more REAL-LIFE MONEY THAT PEOPLE ARE SPENDING ON THIS SHIT it is worth. How do the kids say it? "smh", I believe. SMH, INDEED.
At any rate, I immediately put that same "M4A1S Nitro (Field Tested)" back on the market, at a price that would net me $2.49.
Oh, but here's the other thing. This whole thing is a utter and complete racket. Why? Because for every sale, Steam takes 5% of the price, and the Counter-Strike people take 10%. So for every dollar spent on this shit, 15 cents of it is nicked off the top and sent to Gaben and his merry band.
So, whereas I purchased it for $2.48, the seller only got $2.17. And whereas I'm trying to sell it to make $2.49, the actual price the buyer would have to pay is like $2.83.
It seems like a lost cause. BUT, this particular gun has been going UP in value (there's charts for this, since of course this is serious business, and not just Gaben stuffing his fat fucking mouth with your cash).
So we'll see.
We'll see.
I can't believe this exists.